It is customary, particularly in agricultural areas, for trucks having V-shaped bottoms to be divided into a plurality of compartments so that one truck can carry a plurality of different quantities of particulate material, such as different feeds or different fertilizers, in various compartments of the truck. The V-shaped truck body is normally equipped with an auger device at the point of the V for unloading purposes, and doors are provided in the bottom portions of the V-shaped bodies in each compartment so that, when opened, the particulate material in a given compartment can be moved into operating engagement with the unloading auger.
The support means for the V-shaped truck body has to accommodate the slope of the tapered bottom of the truck, and must also accommodate the pivotal doors as well as often supporting the truck fenders. Customarily, a pair of elongated beams support the V-shaped truck body, and these beams are formed and bent to shape from a flat piece of structural steel. While such beams do afford adequate strength, they are heavy and do not adequately bring together for easy fabrication all of the various components that they support.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a truck frame beam that is extruded from lightweight material, such as aluminum, and which has a plurality of supporting surfaces which easily receive and accommodate the various structures which are supported thereby.
A further object of this invention is to provide a truck frame beam that will permit the alignment of the components to be attached thereto which serves to facilitate the welding process whereby the various components are joined to the beam.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.